


Glittering Opportunity (Same Species, Same Defects)

by jacksgreyson



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen, Naruto
Genre: Doppelganger, Gen, Internal Monologue, Light Angst, Parallels, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 01:53:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20685551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacksgreyson/pseuds/jacksgreyson
Summary: There is nothing new under the sun: not war, not rain, not even the bright shining dawn.Or, in which an angel and the abyss meet eyes and it is more significant to one of them than the other.





	Glittering Opportunity (Same Species, Same Defects)

It was a bright and clear day. Normally that wouldn't be an ominous statement, certainly not to a native of Konoha, but this was Land of Rain and even the familiar can be concerning in the wrong environs.

"What auspicious weather," exclaimed Prince Michiru, grin earnestly wide, "Surely this is a sign that today will be a good one!" 

Shikako suppressed the immediate, instinctual flinch, instead settling for a shared sideways look at Sasuke whose brow had furrowed at the very obvious and practically unstoppable jinx thrown their way.

Kakashi-sensei, not so much more optimistic as he was more used to hiding his reactions--though, given most of his face was hidden, that wasn't exactly difficult--merely nodded in agreement. "We're certainly lucky to have this opportunity," he added, pressing a hand to each of their heads and ruffling their hair as if to say to his students, keep it together in front of the client.

Sasuke huffed, ever the contrary cat, while Shikako tried to put her game face on: maybe today would be a good one.

Like a snowball's chance in hell... like a clear day in Land of Rain. 

But for now Shikako would smile, do her job--and horror of horrors--mingle.

For the most part, the movie premiere of Tale of the Gutsy Ninja was every bit the milk run as the mission parameters promised: Prince Michiru as charmingly affable as ever, his son Hikaru a manageable level of surly, and Director Makino a baffling if convenient degree of excited. Not that Director Makino was in any way Shikako's problem--though given the way he kept rambling on about Princess Fuun spinoffs, he'd prefer otherwise--but it was one less factor to worry about.

Frankly, given the event was so overwhelmingly civilian--and already seeded with Konoha chuunin who had played the part of the film's stunt people and extras--Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and herself were overkill as bodyguards. Even for a royal retinue prone to crises. But, again, it was less the what than the where that was the problem...

... and the whole secret, from-the-Hokage-herself, verbal-only S-rank assignment that this particular breeze of a bodyguard mission was a cover for.

Which was not to say Shikako wasn't stressed out by the crowd of sparkling starlets and glamorous nobles--a level of social elitism that nearly made her dizzy--but that was the stress of an awkward introvert and thus an entirely different type than the adrenaline spike immediately upon spotting a specific shade of blue hair next to, even more alarmingly, a pair of heads with the same orange hair.

Danger, Will Robinson!

They weren't supposed to be here! Shikako thought wildly even as she tried to outwardly exude an aura of calm, shaking out to a strange and strained expression as she exchanged quick looks with Kakashi-sensei. Though from his overall demeanor, if he felt any concern whatsoever, it was only in regards to the noble woman feeling up his biceps. And she couldn't even share a commiserating glance with Sasuke this time around because oh, yeah, Akatsuki meant that this S-rank assignment was so secret that even one of her teammates didn't know.

It's fine, it's all fine. Nothing was wrong. If anything, Konan and two Paths of Pein being at the movie premiere was a good thing--it meant they weren't in Amegakure where, currently, shadow clones of Kakashi and herself were doing some reconnaissance. See? Nothing to worry about. She could get through this mission, no problem.

Then, in the way of all Lucky Sevens self jinxes, Shikako looked up and made eye contact with the Angel of Amegakure.

* * *

Of course Shikako had thought about it, both before and Before, and fairly recently, even, with Tale of the Gutsy Ninja on her mind. The frustrating parallels with no follow through. Haunting, but hopefully empty, foreshadowing: Three friends with the potential for power, fighting against a world that seemed to want nothing more than to tear them down, tear them apart. A bright eyed optimist, the wielder of an endangered bloodline, and a girl who could turn herself into something else. Curse breakers, regime changers, and maybe, just maybe, the prophesied dawn of something great and terrible.

Sound familiar? 

It was one thing to condemn Akatsuki for the atrocities its twisted, mangled version of itself had done--ending all war by becoming strong is very different from ending all war by annihilating all sides of said war--but another to condemn the leaders for why it mutated into what it had become.

Their dream had been brutally squashed: Yahiko killed, Nagato gone mad, and Konan desperately trying to keep what remained of Akatsuki alive, trying to protect and salvage what she could of their dream. Yes, she was an active threat to Shikako's goals to keep her own friends safe and happy, but...

... what would Shikako do if Naruto died? A thought that froze her blood in her veins, a horrifying possibility that, while improbable, still existed. After all, hadn't it already been proven to her that no one was safe? Hadn't she already ruined so many of her friends in her pyrrhic, paradoxical quest to keep them out of danger?

... what would she do if Sasuke fell? An ominous outcome that could still come to pass. Maybe it hadn't been Orochimaru, not that particular fall from grace, but the potential for madness, for blind vengeance, for reciprocal betrayal still lurked within him. Could he still hold true to course when Itachi's real motivations came to light? Could he still defend the village when Danzo's machinations were revealed? Would he forgive her for hiding it all?

...what would she do to enact her own justice? What wouldn't she do? What hadn't she done? At least Konan's enabling was, in its own way, innocent: the angel trying to help her chosen god achieve his vision of the world. In contrast, Shikako had been manipulating people around her--loved ones and strangers and enemies--to match what she thought was right. What she thought should be right.

Ultimately, wasn't that the difference? An angel could never defeat a god, and paper was ever so thin--how human the foundations of Konan's existence. What did paper matter to a sealing master who had advanced beyond ink? What did bloodlines mean to a star who had defied a real god? How could dawn possibly be significant when the vastness of space proved that darkness was the default?

Great and terrible. And it’s not even Jiraiya’s fault.

Who was Shikako to judge? 

* * *

Shikako made eye contact with the Angel of Amegakure, holding her breath the entire time, nearly getting dizzy from lack of oxygen and nerves both. If Konan felt anything beyond mild distaste--Shikako was, after all, a Konoha shinobi--it didn't show.

When Shikako was on the verge of passing out, or close enough to feel like it--Konan blinked and turned away, utterly apathetic. Light-headed, Shikako finally took a breath, punctuated with a quiet, relieved sigh.

Sasuke, close enough to catch it, shot her an inquiring glance, any excuse to escape Hikaru's less than charming personality.

"It's fine," Shikako assured him, taking slow, deep breaths, and carefully unclenching her fists, "It's all fine."

There was no danger currently: the only things they had to do were keep the princes out of trouble, avoid the Amegakure leaders--who were already steering clear of them--and wait until her and Kakashi’s shadow clones came back or dispelled themselves, thus bringing them one step closer to the inevitable clash against Akatsuki.

“It’s all fine,” she repeated, a rather unconvincing smile on her face.

It would be. Shikako would make sure of it.


End file.
